Leonard beat Donny LaLonde for LaLonde's Light Heavyweight belt & also WBC Supermiddleweight belt (because they wanted him to be five times champ).

He then relinquished the LH belt & went for a SM unification bout against Hearns - who was gifted a win over James 'the sink' Kinchen who should have been awarded the victory after Hearns held on to him, the ref & everyone in the first six rows during a calamitous 4th when he got decked AND WAS OUT ON HIS FEET more than any fighter I've ever seen (I do admit to watching the fight 'live'* and not having seen it since).

Anyway, after Leonard then got a draw against Tommy he then defended his WBC Supermiddleweight title against Duran but neither one was under any obligation to weigh in at 168.

And there is my convoluted answer to your question.

* - When I say live it was probably a week later on British tv but in the pre-internet/satellite days I didn't have a clue of the result, as long as I held off from buying Boxing News until the Saturday afternoon.

Leonard beat Donny LaLonde for LaLonde's Light Heavyweight belt & also WBC Supermiddleweight belt (because they wanted him to be five times champ).

He then relinquished the LH belt & went for a SM unification bout against Hearns - who was gifted a win over James 'the sink' Kinchen who should have been awarded the victory after Hearns held on to him, the ref & everyone in the first six rows during a calamitous 4th when he got decked AND WAS OUT ON HIS FEET more than any fighter I've ever seen (I do admit to watching the fight 'live'* and not having seen it since).

Anyway, after Leonard then got a draw against Tommy he then defended his WBC Supermiddleweight title against Duran but neither one was under any obligation to weigh in at 168.

And there is my convoluted answer to your question.

* - When I say live it was probably a week later on British tv but in the pre-internet/satellite days I didn't have a clue of the result, as long as I held off from buying Boxing News until the Saturday afternoon.

Because in professional boxing there are no rules for minimum weight. Fighters are only obligated to weigh-in no higher than the maximum weight for the given weight class. They can weigh-in at whatever they like as long as they don't exceed the maximum.

There's no rules, for example, prohibiting a 120 pound man from fighting for the Heavyweight title (but who would watch it?).

Because in professional boxing there are no rules for minimum weight. Fighters are only obligated to weigh-in no higher than the maximum weight for the given weight class. They can weigh-in at whatever they like as long as they don't exceed the maximum.

There's no rules, for example, prohibiting a 120 pound man from fighting for the Heavyweight title (but who would watch it?).

Commissions actually do stop you from fighting guys deemed "too large" these days. Recall Shawn Estrada vs Terrance Woods earlier this year. Estrada was so over weight that they forced Woods to GAIN weight just to make the fight legal. True story.

Commissions actually do stop you from fighting guys deemed "too large" these days. Recall Shawn Estrada vs Terrance Woods earlier this year. Estrada was so over weight that they forced Woods to GAIN weight just to make the fight legal. True story.